Convert km/L to L/100km
Kilometers per liter to L/100km is the conversion that flips fuel economy around. km/L is 'distance per fuel' — bigger is better — while L/100km is its inverse, 'fuel per distance', where smaller is better. The relationship is exact: L/100km = 100 ÷ (km/L). Because you're dividing, a higher km/L always gives a lower L/100km.
Kilometers per liter to Liters per 100 km conversion table
| Kilometers per liter (km/L) | Liters per 100 km (L/100km) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 100 |
| 2 | 50 |
| 3 | 33.333333 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 10 | 10 |
| 20 | 5 |
| 50 | 2 |
| 100 | 1 |
| 500 | 0.2 |
| 1,000 | 0.1 |
The formula
To convert kilometers per liter to liters per 100 km, divide 100 by the km/L figure:
L/100km = 100 ÷ (km/L)
This is an inverse, not a multiplier — you divide rather than scale.
A worked example
Say a car does 15 km/L and you want that as liters per 100 km:
100 ÷ 15 = 6.67 L/100km
So 15 km/L is about 6.67 L/100km. Notice the direction flips: a healthy 15 km/L becomes a low 6.67 L/100km, and low is what you want on this side.
Why the relationship is exact
Unlike a rounded conversion factor, 100 ÷ (km/L) is exact — the two units describe the same thing from opposite ends. km/L asks "how far per liter?" and L/100km asks "how much fuel per 100 km?", so one is simply 100 divided by the other. The only place rounding sneaks in is the decimal you write down: 100 ÷ 15 runs on past two places, so 6.67 is a rounded version of it. For clean values the division comes out tidy, but most give a rounded decimal like this one.
When you'll use it
Reading a fuel-economy figure quoted as L/100km — common on European and Australian spec sheets — when your own number is in km/L, or comparing cars where one is rated 'distance per fuel' and the other 'fuel per distance'.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert km/L to L/100km?
Divide 100 by the km/L figure: L/100km = 100 ÷ (km/L). The relationship is exact — the two are just inverses of each other. The decimal you get is often rounded for display, but the formula itself is precise.
Why does a higher km/L give a lower L/100km?
Because the two measure opposite things. km/L is distance per unit of fuel, so bigger is better. L/100km is fuel per fixed distance, so smaller is better. Since one is 100 divided by the other, going up on one side always means going down on the other.
Is the km/L to L/100km conversion exact?
Yes, the relationship is exact: L/100km = 100 ÷ (km/L). The only rounding is in the decimal you write down — the division is precise, but figures like 6.67 are usually a rounded version of a longer decimal.